Calls to reopen pool to ‘get kids swimming again’

Gerry Hannon from Friends of the Health Hydro says Swindon has a "water deficit"

Campaigners in Swindon are calling on the council to reopen one of the town’s only learner pools.

Friends of the Health Hydro Group says there aren’t enough facilities locally for children to learn how to swim.

They want the small pool at the historic Hydro to reopen next summer when work on its main pool, changing rooms and gym is due to be complete.

Swindon Borough Council, which owns the building, says it wants to reopen the small pool but needs more funding to do it.

The listed building on Milton Road is the longest-functioning Victorian Baths in the country, the council says.

It closed last year for millions of pounds of essential works funded by the council, Swindon’s Town Fund, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Cllr Marina Strinkovsky, Cabinet Member for Placemaking and Planning, said: “We have stripped the power plant and installed a much larger, modern one.

"There’s also been a lot of working in changing the filtration system.

“One of the most time-consuming things has been asbestos discovery and removal, particularly through two service tunnels.

“The large pool is being restored. We will also have a gym in what’s called the washroom, and we are very pleased about the changing rooms, too.”

Deficit in swimming

But phase one of the plans does not include restoring the small pool, which campaigners have called the "cornerstone" of the building.

Friends of the Health Hydro group has launched an online petition, saying Swindon "urgently" needs more swimming facilities.

It's as the Oasis in the town is closed until at least 2026, and the town's other main pool, the Link Centre, reopened in January after it was damaged by flooding.

Gerry Hannon, member of Friends of the Health Hydro group, who has been involved with the pool since the 1970s, says: “We had the Oasis go boom, the Link [Centre] go boom and the Hydro was going boom, too,” he said.

“The dire bit behind the closed pools is something called water danger. It means a generation of kids haven’t learnt to swim.

“We’re fearing that there might be 70 percent plus of kids who can’t swim in the town.”

Work is well under way inside the Health Hydro

Cllr Strinkovsky says the council “hasn’t forgotten” about the small pool.

"Our ambition would be to open the small pool in future phases," she said.

"We’re already in the process of applying for an additional grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund."